GUILDERLAND — All the pumps were closed, their handles covered in plastic, and several “Closed” signs contradicted the sign stating “Open 24 Hours” at the front of the Mobil gas station at 1667 Western Ave. on Tuesday. It had been seized by the state’s Department of Taxation on Monday for nonpayment of sales tax.

The gas station has three open warrants for sales tax, and the current warranted balance is $28,976.84, said James Gazzale, spokesman for the department.

Property taxes — both town and school taxes — are paid up, said Lynne Buchanan, Guilderland’s receiver of taxes.  

“In general, seizing a business is always a last resort,” Gazzale said.

Long before the department seizes a business, Gazzale said, it communicates “proactively” with the business owners, “trying to find a way to resolve the tax debt.”

That effort to find a resolution continues even after a seizure, said Gazzale, with the department continuing to contact owners directly in hopes of resolving the debt. .

Secrecy laws prohibit him from sharing any information about individual taxpayer cases when that information comes from a tax return, he said. For that reason, he could not say who owns the seized property.

According to the county’s assessment rolls, the owner of the property is 1667 Western Ave., LLC, located at 1806 Erie Blvd., Schenectady, and the property’s full market value is $1,053,409.

Records of the Department of State’s Division of Corporations shows that any service accepted on behalf of 1667 Western Ave., LLC would be mailed to Red-Kap Sales, Inc., at 1806 Erie Boulevard, Schenectady.

The initial filing date for 1667 Western Ave., LLC was Feb. 26, 2013, the records say.

Red-Kap’s website says that it is a gasoline wholesaler. A message left for the company’s vice president, Jon Kaplan, was not returned.